The conference brought together PASS and peer learning practitioners, leaders and researchers from across Australasia to share innovative practice, explore emerging trends, recognise challenges in the sector, and celebrate the impact of peer-led learning in higher education.

A highlight of the conference was the recognition of Raafat El-Mongi, who received the 2025 Outstanding New PASS Leader Award alongside two other peer leaders from across the region. The award recognises exceptional leadership, commitment and contribution to the PASS community, reflecting the positive impact Raf has made through his work supporting fellow students and colleagues.

Raf humbly reflected on his award, thanking his teammates for their part in shaping his facilitation and leadership style:

“At the end of the day, the facilitator I’ve become is so strongly influenced by Tracy and by everyone around me – all the other facilitators. I’m so grateful for our strong connection and for the chance to learn from and support one another in areas where we’re struggling. I strongly believe this award is not just a recognition of me, but a recognition of all of us. I’m really glad to have been able to bring it home and represent ������Ƶ and our UniPASS program as a whole. This award is truly on behalf of everyone.”

Tracy and Raf also co-presented two conference sessions showcasing Curtin’s approach to peer learning:

• From Peers to Practice: Using PASS to Develop Culturally Responsive University Graduates

• From Performance Review to Developmental Dialogue: Rethinking Observation and Feedback in Peer Learning

Their presentations highlighted innovative practices that support student development, cultural responsiveness and reflective learning. Both sessions generated engaging discussion among delegates and provided an opportunity to share Curtin’s experiences with colleagues from across the sector.

The conference was a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, strengthen professional networks and learn from the diverse experiences of peer learning programs throughout Australasia.

Reflecting on the conference, Raf highlighted the opportunity to connect with peers from across the region:

“It was a really rewarding experience. It was great meeting people from so many different places – Cairns, New South Wales, Queensland and Vietnam, to name a few. It was wonderful to connect and realise that, although we all come from different backgrounds, we share the same vision for PASS. We all want to support our attendees and continue developing ourselves so we can be the best facilitators we can be.”

Congratulations to Raf and Tracy on representing ������Ƶ so proudly and on Raf’s well-deserved recognition. Their contributions continue to strengthen the UniPASS program and demonstrate Curtin’s leadership in peer learning across the region.

Eytahnyia Scott, Jaru woman, adopted by the Yolngu people, has been awarded the 2026 Indigenous Leader Award from the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL). The award recognises Eytahnyia’s significant contributions as an Indigenous Learning Advisor in transforming the way the Library engages with and supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff. 

In two short years, among many other initiatives, Eytahnyia led the broader Library team to: 

• Create a dedicated and culturally safe space for the Indigenous community in the Library. Whadjuk Malayin Mia opened in 2024. It features Indigenous artwork and objects, comfortable furniture and supports connection between Indigenous students. 
  
• Recruit two Indigenous Peer Academic Mentors to provide tailored support to Indigenous students. The mentors are high-achieving current students offering academic guidance and help navigating university life.
  
• Launch the Indigenous All Stars Conference for Higher Degree by Research students. The conference, a collaboration with Curtin’s Research Office was first offered in 2024 and has become an annual event. One attendee noted that it was a “Deadly event bringing together Black Excellence and showcasing research that supports self-determination, data sovereignty and the rights of Indigenous people to create new knowledge whilst elevating Indigenous stories and strengths-based narratives.”

Eytahnyia’s leadership has enabled far greater and more meaningful engagement between the Library and Curtin’s Indigenous community. The Library is better equipped to provide targeted support, and with Eytahnyia’s guidance, feels more confident in doing so. The number of Indigenous students engaging with library events and programs has increased substantially, as have collaborations with Indigenous staff. Eytahnyia is at the centre of these achievements. Congratulations, Eytahnyia, on this well-deserved award! 

Written by Claire Murphy, Deputy Director of Learning and Library Experience

Following our announcement on 1 April, the deposit integration between Elements and CURATE is now complete, concluding the repository migration project. CURATE is now fully functional.

The project gave us the opportunity to rebrand espace as �䱫�鴡�շ���(������Ƶ Research Academic and Teaching Electronic repository), reflecting a modern, accessible home for Curtin’s research outputs. 

While the name has changed, our commitment to open scholarship remains the same. CURATE brings together research outputs by Curtin authors—including Higher Degree by Research (HDR) theses—to increase the visibility, discoverability and impact of Curtin research. It also helps researchers meet funders’ Open Access requirements at no cost.

Depositing both traditional and non-traditional research outputs is simple. Curtin Library supports the process through a single deposit point in Elements, with eligible outputs made discoverable in CURATE and assigned a DOI where applicable.

Guidance on using Elements and information about which research outputs are in scope for CURATE are available in the   

The Library also offers workshops and support services to help researchers manage, share and maximise the impact of their work.

Explore  and share your feedback or any questions with the team at curate@curtin.edu.au 

Anastasia Scala recently joined the Library as Library Technician in the Research Services team. We spoke to Anastasia to learn more about her background, work experience and role.

My first career was in illustration and fine art. I completed a Bachelor of Communication Design (Illustration) in New York City and worked there as a freelance illustrator before spending some time doing the same in London.

While I was in London, I took on a range of other roles to support myself and eventually worked at the Museum of London. I had always been interested in history, and that experience was where I first became seriously interested in information services. London was a great place to be for this, but eventually the cold wore me down.

When I returned home to Perth, I continued my art practice by completing a Master of Fine Art at ������Ƶ. This led to exhibitions, residencies, and trying to sell my work, while I continued balancing other jobs to make ends meet. Even so, my interest in galleries, museums, and libraries continued.

After some soul-searching, I decided to study Library and Information Services at North Metropolitan TAFE. I completed the Certificate III and then moved straight into the Diploma. In the same year, I began working as a casual library officer at Bassendean and Bayswater libraries, which led to a temporary contract role at Ruth Faulkner Library in Belmont. After gaining experience in public libraries, I have now found my way to Curtin!

I am the new acquisitions Library Technician on the Research Services team at ������Ƶ Library. My primary role is ordering monographs that are requested by students and staff and making sure everything is organised in that area.

I’m relatively new to Alma and acquisitions, but I’m excited to learn! I’m currently a student as well as a member of staff, while I work on my Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Science, so it is interesting to see things from the other side. I am looking forward to helping other students with their research and studies.

As you can probably guess, I still have a strong interest in fine art and illustration! I visit galleries and exhibitions as much as I can and still work on my own art at home. Painting is my main focus, but lately I’ve been intrigued by mosaic art. I also enjoy baking, the occasional video game, and trading card games. But frequently, I’m lounging at home with my cat Caleb.

Written by Anastasia Scala, Library Technician

We’re proud to share the 2025 Curtin Library Annual Report, now available to view on the Library website. The report highlights a year of innovation, collaboration, and community connection across Curtin Library.

Highlights include:

• The development of our AI Literacy Framework 
• Hosting the CAUL Council meeting
• Our Creative-in-Residence program launch
• Thesis Fest celebrates its 5th anniversary
• Makerspace celebrates its 10th anniversary
• The launch of Unstacked

Curtin Library’s Creative in Residence program got off to a colourful start in May, with eco-dyeing workshops led by artist Allira Sinclair.

Across multiple sessions, students and staff came together in the Library Makerspace to experiment with natural dyeing techniques, using eucalyptus leaves and other locally sourced botanical materials to create unique textile prints. Alongside the creative process, participants shared stories and reflected on their connections to Curtin Library, sparking conversations about place, community and belonging.

The workshops attracted a great mix of staff and students, creating a welcoming and collaborative environment where creativity and conversation flourished. Participants also generously donated some of their finished textile pieces, which will be incorporated into a larger collaborative artwork by Allira as part of the 2026 Creative in Residence program.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to this exciting project. We look forward to sharing the completed artwork when it is unveiled later this year.

Jesse Galea recently joined the Library as Library Technician in the Library’s Learning Success team. We spoke to Jesse to learn more about his background, work experience and role.

I’m fairly new to the world of libraries, having only completed my Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Science early last year. One of my genuine motivating factors for studying that course was being frustrated by my local library’s inconsistent subject headings and wishing I could be the person to fix them. Around the same time that I graduated, I started working as a Library Officer in a public library, where I still work on the days I am not at Curtin. Before that, I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing major, Professional Writing and Publishing minor), where I developed more of an interest in topics like copyright and plagiarism, censorship and how the so-called rules of writing and publishing aren’t as concrete or neutral as they might seem.

I recently joined ������Ƶ Library as a Library Technician in the Learning Success team. My role is quite varied, which I love. Some of my responsibilities include buying or digitising materials academics have requested for their reading lists, helping locate suitable alternatives to unavailable textbooks, doing detective work to track down working links whenever students report a broken link in a reading list, and working on a bunch of behind-the-scenes projects that most people won’t notice but will hopefully improve experiences with reading lists. A lot of my work feels like solving a puzzle, which is incredibly satisfying.

At first, the main challenge in my work was the amount of information I had to learn in this new academic library context. Things like how copyright works for an academic institution, what our responsibilities are in terms of accessibility, and how different publishers operate. Now, there is still a lot I don’t know, but it’s not overwhelming. I can feed my insatiable curiosity about how everything works and how I can help make things better. My favourite part of the role is doing the kinds of methodical, meticulous tasks that other people might find tedious or boring in the service of improving the experience of staff and students; it’s rewarding knowing that I’m helping people without them having to specifically ask for it.

Outside of work, I’m a huge reader, mostly of queer coming-of-age books, and I’m an unashamed spreadsheet enthusiast. I’m also a young adult literature writer, though I never seem to have as much time to write as I’d like.

Written by Jesse Galea, Library Technician

When generative AI (GenAI) took off, universities were left to figure out, in real time, how to prepare students to use it well. ������Ƶ Library’s response was practical: build a resource that gives students what they need, from the ground up. That resource has been supporting students since 2023, and a significantly updated version went live in December 2025.

The GenAI Guide, available on UniSkills, is a free, self-paced learning module that assumes no prior knowledge. It takes students from a critical understanding of how GenAI works through to confident, responsible use in their studies. It works best completed in order, but each of its five sections also stands alone as a reference students can return to at any point.

What’s inside

The module opens with Understand, covering what GenAI is and how it works, including why it hallucinates and where bias creeps in. From there, Use introduces the GenAI Checkpoint, a practical framework for deciding whether and how to bring GenAI into a given task. Unpack zooms out to examine the broader implications of the technology and its likely future impact. Upskill gets hands-on, with an overview of common tools and a prompt library for practice. Finally, Declare and Reference walks students through how to properly acknowledge GenAI use in their assessments.

More than prompts and hallucinations

A working knowledge of GenAI goes further than most people initially expect. Knowing that a GenAI model can hallucinate is useful, as is knowing how to write a decent prompt. But genuine GenAI literacy, particularly for university students, means something more: understanding how you learn, what your assessments are asking of you, and making strategic decisions about when GenAI will support that process and when it will shortcut it in ways that cost you. It also means understanding the capabilities and limits of specific tools well enough to evaluate their output critically, something even experienced professionals are still working through.

The guide is designed to build that kind of reflective, transferable competency, not just tool familiarity.

Part of something bigger

The guide runs alongside a semesterly , giving students the option of self-paced learning, live facilitated sessions, or both. Together, they aim to build confidence and reduce the anxiety many students feel around the topic.

The technology will keep evolving, and so will this resource. If you work with Curtin students, we encourage you to share the guide with them. The more students who engage with it, the better equipped they will be to use GenAI in ways that genuinely serve their learning.

The GenAI Guide is free and open to all via :

Written by Emily McNamee, Project Coordinator